Also Tuesday, Abbas, who was speaking in Ramallah at a celebration for the release of 26 Palestinian prisoners, said sick prisoners would be released after 104 held before Oslo.

“We promise you that no final agreement will be reached unless all prisoners are at home. I would like to say for the record that they [the Israelis] delayed the release of those heroes for 24 hours and this is unacceptable,” Abbas told crowds who gathered in the presidential compound in Ramallah.

Abbas congratulated the prisoners and their families promising that such celebrations would continue. “There will be more groups of those heroes every now and then and in the near future.”